The Rage of the Avatar
by TheCrimsonAvatar
Summary: This is a story of Aang at the Firelord's Palace, side by side with his friends, what will happen when Katara is injured? Please review, I worked very hard on this! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys this is my first fan fiction, please review! I'll continue it if I get enough support. Thanks!

The Rage of the Avatar

Aang's heart stopped. Amidst the chaos of the battle surrounding him he fell to his knees and stared at the limp form of Katara in front of him. She lay on the ground, her graceful features contorted and strained. Her face was smudged with soot, and scorch marks were littered all around her clothes and body. Her bending water was pooling around her body, mixing with the scarlet blood seeping from her wounds. She was barely breathing, two jagged smoking holes allowing blood to flow and stain her clothes. Sokka and Toph were across the throne room fighting the Firelord's personal guard, ignorant of Katara's fall.

Aang's mind went blank as his hands caressed her hair, and he was dimly aware that tears were streaming down his face. He looked at her beautiful face for one last moment and then turned towards her attackers. Firelord Ozai stood next to his daughter Azula, who both had victorious smirks on their faces. They stood by Ozai's ruined throne, sharp gashes in the stone a testament to Katara's waterbending. Both pairs of hands were smoking, a telltale sign of the lightning they had bended from the air.

Aang just looked at them for a moment and like a floodgate bursting, pure rage poured into every fiber of his being. She was dying, and they were responsible. He rose up a few feet from Katara's body on a whirlwind of air as his tattoos and eyes began to glow a pure white color. Then he screamed. Every soldier from either side cringed and fell from the sound. Sokka and Toph also fell to the ground, especially Toph with her sensitive ears, but managed to glace towards Aang. Ozai and Azula stopped smirking and covered their ears in pain, falling to the floor. The sound that came from Aang was of anguish and despair, and all of the voices of the previous avatars joined his in a deafening roar. And yet for Sokka it sounded even more terrifying then any cry he had heard from Aang when he was in the avatar state.

As his cry dissipated, his tattoos spiked colors from an already dangerous white to a blood red. His eyes continued to produce tears but from red orbs that pierced the soul of whomever were unlucky enough to gaze upon them. Aang raised himself even higher in the air atop a tornado of all the combined elements swirling beneath him. Every single warrior in the throne room had their eyes on the Aang as they recovered from his outcry. The Avatar set his deadly gaze on the Firelord and Azula and raised his hands, pointing two fingers at each of them.

The Fire Nation leader did not have a chance to say a word as the Avatar sent a bolt of lightning out of his fingertips that pierced Ozai through his chest and flowed into the ground. The Firelord's corpse fell to the ground with a sickening thump. Azula's eyes went wide as she watched her father crumple to the ground. She conjured her own lightning, sweeping her arms in graceful arcs. She shot it towards the Avatar with a stab of her right arm, grim determination on her face. Aang merely caught the lightning and let it course through his body, and shot it out an outstretched hand. Azula did not even have time to think as her own lightning shot through her torso. Azula joined her father on the floor, her eyes forever frozen in fear.

Aang bellowed again, this time in bloodlust and everyone, friend and foe, cringed and clamped their hands over their ears. Many startled men and women fled in terror, as the ground quaked and cracked. Fire sprouted from Aang's body, shooting up hundreds of feet in the air in a terrible display of power. The air in the ruined throne room began to whip around the Avatar, and rain began to downpour through serrated holes in the ceiling. Sokka and Toph rushed to Katara as Aang let loose his anguish upon the four elements he controlled.

The Avatar then looked down upon Katara's shape. The infuriated form of Aang then allowed the tornado to gently set himself beside his true love, whom was unconscious. Sokka quickly grabbed Toph's hand and led her away from Aang, clearly frightened. Aang's tattoos still glowed red as he bended Katara's water from its pool on the ground and some rain pouring from the sky around his glowing hands. The water began to spin rapidly and with glowing hands he applied the healing agent to the two gaping wounds on her chest. Katara gasped and her eyes fluttered underneath their lids as she felt the water flow through her, healing her punctured lung and stomach along with all of the scorched tissue that surrounded the injuries. Aang withdrew his hands with the water after a few minutes and her body was whole, though angry scars covered her skin. Aang then rose to his feet and raised both his arms suddenly.

Every member of the Fire Nation army were suddenly incased in a stone prison, covering them up to their necks in earth. Some struggled but most just stared in terror at the Avatar who still had an aura of deadly red around his body.

"…Aang...?" Katara started to wake up, grimacing in pain as she rose to a sitting position.

Katara looked up at the Avatar and recoiled in shock. Every feature of his face was evil-looking and even sitting near him she could feel the raw hate that seeped from him. He was covered in a violent crimson light that came from his eyes and tattoos. She looked into his eyes and saw no trace of Aang, only this malevolent spirit that gripped him.

But even though she was terrified, she reached up and touched his cheek and she felt his tears still streaming down the Avatar's face. She then realized that Aang was there, hidden beneath all of this rage and sorrow. Katara gripped his shoulders and hugged him, squeezing as hard as she could and crying into his shoulder.

The Avatar looked at Katara's face and his face slackened a little. The crimson glow subsided into the natural Avatar state glow of pure white, and then disappeared completely. He collapsed right into Katara's arms. Aang rolled his head to see Katara's face brimming with tears, but alive. He smiled, knowing she was living, and passed out in her arms, forgetting the outside world and dropping into the spirit world.

Aang woke up, but surrounding him was the familiar swamp that he was in when he came to the spirit world from the North Pole. He was in his meditation stance, cross-legged and arms resting on his legs. Aang stood up and looked at the mossy trees and admired the beauty of the suns in the sky. He looked around and went to the edge of the stone foundation that he was standing on. Then Avatar Roku appeared before him, emerging from the depths of the water.

"Aang, today you did something that was impossible. Not a single avatar before you has been able to unlock the level of power that you did today."

Aang looked at him doubtfully. "What do you mean? What did I do? All I remember is feeling this anger come over me, and then… I saw Katara crying and holding me…"

"You might not have remembered what happened, but you surpassed the known avatar state. You did the impossible; you gained access to a unique avatar state."

"What?" Aang replied in shock. "How could I do such a thing?"

"I wish I could tell you Aang. Your situation was exceptional, having to save the world and your love. You found a way to unlock the avatar state will a sealed chaukra." Roku mused.

"Ok…but how could I do that? And why couldn't any other avatar do it?" Aang was confused and horrified at the prospect of unwittingly going into an even more dangerous and uncontrolled avatar state.

"Your need to save your friends and the world was heard by us, echoing throughout the spirit world. It was particularly powerful amongst your previous reincarnations, and we came to your aid through your beacon of sorrow and loss. We guided your physical body to do what you must to save the world."

"WHAT? You mean that you, Avatar Kyoshi, and every other avatar had control of my body?" Aang exclaimed.

"Not exactly." Roku said. "You were so angry that you would have ruined everything in the palace, regardless of what or who you destroyed. We guided your physical body to prevent you from killing everyone unnecessarily, and being a spirits ourselves, we enlisted the powers of other spirits too, ones that an avatar could not have used while he was in the physical world."

"So the rage I felt… why it was so overpowering… was because of you?" Aang shivered at the thought of being in that much anger. "Why did it feel so dominant?"

"That had nothing to do with me Aang. That was the anger of an entire race. The Air Nomads were among the spirits that helped me empower you. Even being a culture of monks and peace loving individuals, their anger from becoming almost extinct fueled your emotions as well, as they fuel you emotions for whom triggered the avatar state in the first place."

"Katara? Guru Pathik mentioned that my love for the air nomads was reborn into my love for Katara, but their other emotions can affect me too?" Aang sighed and fell to the ground, sitting. This was way too much to take in, he thought. I am only a 13 year old kid…

"Yes. They can influence al your emotions, not just love and rage. They are a part of you, as you are a part of them." Roku stated.

Aang's eyes went wide when a thought popped into his head. "Does this mean that I can love Katara and still go into the avatar state?" His hope to finally be able to openly love Katara suddenly was possible.

"Yes. In fact, it is much stronger when you are in love, at least when your love is threatened."

Aang didn't know what to say. He just looked at Roku and started to smile. Tears began to trickle down his face as he imagined Katara's visage, and believing that he could finally kiss those heavenly lips…

"Aang, you must return to the physical world. I wanted to explain this to you before you returned. This special avatar state can be accessed again if needed, but it does not function like your previous encounters. You will have no control, and we might not be able to direct you as well as we did today. Be cautious with this new power."

Aang started to walk towards the archway to go back, and then turned back to Roku.

"Did I… Did I win? Did we win?"

Roku answered coldly: "The Firelord is dead, Azula along with him. The Fire Nation will be lead by a new Firelord, one who will be just and restore balance to a broken world. We won."

"How many people did I kill?" Aang said ashamed of what the answer might be.

"Two. Just enough to lead the world into a new era, one of peace and prosperity. Although, your anger did wreak havoc on the Fire Nation royal palace. Relax Aang, you did nothing wrong. Those two deaths were necessary to prevent the deaths of thousands more lives to come."

"Thanks Roku." Aang smiled sadly at his previous reincarnation and walked through the gate, to the real world, to his friends, to his Katara…

Aang woke with a start. He was in a strange bed, bandages covering most of his body. It must have been weeks after the second invasion of the Fire Nation. He sat up, cringing at a particularly painful burn on his shoulder that was wrapped tight.

He looked over to a chair, where the sleeping form of Katara slouched, a slight frown on her face. Aang smiled, marveling at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He noticed a few bandages on her too, and winced because they looked tender.

He started to rise from his bed and Katara's eyes opened slightly and she moaned. Aang just smiled, gazing into her striking sapphire eyes that suddenly sparked when she saw Aang.

"Aang!" She cried out with a gasp, and launched herself into a tight embrace. She started to whimper into his shoulder. "I thought you'd never wake up."

Aang lovingly stroked her hair and murmured comforting things into her ear. They hugged for what seemed like blissful eternity until Katara broke off and gazed excitingly at him.

"Let's go get the others; they'd love to see you." Katara gripped Aang's hand tight and practically dragged him out of bed. Much to his embarrassment, he was not fully clothed, only wearing a pair of pants. He blushed as he told her "Wait, where is my shirt?"

Katara started to blush and said "I had to take off your clothes to heal and dress your wounds" Aang blushed even deeper and saw his shirt nearby on a hook. He grabbed it and jammed it over his head and Katara grabbed his hand again and led him down a staircase.

"We are at the Southern Air Temple, aren't we?" He asked in amazement. "How did we get here?"

"As soon as he battle was over, Zuko and Iroh took control of the Fire Nation forces. We needed to get you to a safe secure place where we wouldn't be bothered. Iroh and Zuko told us to leave and that we'd meet up with them later, so we took off on Appa. We took you here because it is the only place we could think of that no one could get to."

Soon they reached a door and on the other side Aang could hear muffled voices. Katara opened it and he saw Sokka and Toph, both sitting at a long rectangular table eating some food. They both turned to Aang and jumped up to hug him. Katara's hand never left his as Sokka and Toph tackled him.

"Twinkletoes! I am so glad you're alright!" Toph exclaimed.

"Aang, good to see you in the land of the living buddy." Sokka grinned.

"It is great to see you guys too, I am so thankful you're all alright." Aang replied, grinning.

They all broke off and exchanged smiles. Katara was in tears again, gripping Aang's hand even tighter.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Aang asked. He was quite hungry and he looked upon the various fruits on the table.

"No way Aang!" Sokka said with a sudden ferocity. "I need to know what happened when you went into the avatar state. How did you save Katara?" Katara started to blush, but her face was bent in curiosity.

"Well as I told you before the first invasion, my seventh chaukra was sealed when Azula almost killed me. I shouldn't have been to go into the avatar state at all, but when I saw Katara dying in my arms…" Aang broke off and sighed before continued. "I… I became so enraged that I triggered it in a way that has never been used before."

Katara's face lost some of its color. "I remember looking into your face when that red glow was over you… it was terrifying."

"You should have seen him take down Azula and Ozai. Now THAT was terrifying" Sokka said, shivering at the memory.

"I have never felt so many heartbeats beat so fast." Toph added. "I couldn't tell what Aang was doing, but I felt Ozai's and Azula's hearts stop beating."

"I don't remember any of this…" Aang said, tears in his eyes. "I can't believe that I killed two people in cold blood, no matter how evil they were."

The four teenagers fell silent. Aang continued: "You have to believe me Katara. I had to save you. I had no choice. I..."

Aang broke off when he realized that he was on the verge of confessing his love for her. He just looked away and closed his eyes.

"Aang… It is ok… everything is going to be ok…" Katara comforted him, gripping him in another hug.

Toph punched Sokka in the arm and said: "I think it is time for us to get more food."

Sokka looked at her with blatant confusion on his face. "But we went yesterday to get that delicious hippo-cow steak. Remember?"

Toph just hit him again and led him out of the room. Aang and Katara still gripped each other. Aang was crying, crying because he felt he was no longer innocent. He had the blood of real, living people on his hands. He wept for his lost friends, his time with Monk Gyatso playing Pai-Sho and inventing the air scooter with his fellow air nomads. He wept for those who lost their lives in both the Fire Nation invasions and for those who lost their lives in this terrible one hundred year war. He wept until he could not produce tears anymore. He sunk into the wall, his hands covering his face as Katara kept him in her warm embrace, crying along with him.

After what seemed like hours, Aang got a hold of himself. He regained his composure and looked at Katara's cerulean eyes.

"I got so angry when you got wounded… I never want to be that close to losing you again. Katara…" Their gazes locked. She looked in his eyes and saw a hurt young boy, yet something more. She saw hardness, a mature icy look that pierced her soul.

She couldn't help but gaze into his stormy grey eyes. He leaned in closer to her, and she bent forward, still looking straight into his eyes. They shared a quick warm breath and closed their eyes before he felt his lips brush hers. They both stayed close, lips barely touching, enraptured by their bond. At that moment Aang's mind was blank. There was no post war duties, no such thing as the avatar, and no loss of innocence. There was just Katara, her lips, her heartbeat, the way she shivered as he lightly ran his fingertips over her arms, her quickened breathing... Aang was the first one to pull away. Katara, lips still puckered, enclosed the distance Aang had withdrawn and they kissed again.

Aang could not resist, he kissed her a little harder, more insistently. Katara met his pressure and after a blissful eternity, they pulled apart. Aang opened his eyes to see Katara's piercing azure ones. He smiled stupidly at her, completely smitten. She grinned seeing the carefree side of Aang back, gazing at her with love glowing from his every feature on his face. They just held each other, side by side, hand in hand, and enjoyed the feeling of warmth they received from each other. At that moment Aang was the happiest that he'd ever been. Their kiss spoke louder than any words that could have been spoken. He was in love, and she loved him back. That was all that mattered to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Aang was in the Firelord's palace, watching outside his body as he entered the avatar state, weeping over Katara's body. The Firelord's eyes widened and he began to plead:_

"_Avatar! Please don't kill me! I shall withdraw from the Earth Kingdom and end the war! Please, give me a second chance, I can change!" He begged for forgiveness on his knees, crying tears of fear._

_Aang watched the Crimson Avatar laugh cruelly and raise an arm and flow lightning from its fingertips. The Firelord crumpled to the ground, screaming in pain as the lightning ravaged his body, burning through his body until it was a burnt and bloody husk._

_Aang watched in horror as the Firelord's body changed before his eyes into a crumpled for of Monk Gyatso, who beseeched Aang with a charred arm._

"_Why? Why did you kill me? Why did you kill our race?"_

_Aang cried out "I didn't mean to leave!" but already the Crimson Avatar was bending more lightning, this time its deadly gaze upon Katara. She was standing helplessly in front of the Avatar, and Aang screamed "NO!"_

_Her eyes widened in fear as lightning shot from the Crimson Avatar, and then all Aang could hear was her shrill high pitched scream, and the Avatar's cold laughter…_

Aang woke with a violent jerk, still screaming from his dream. His body shook as he turned onto his stomach and gripped the ground with his fists. Sweat dripped from his face and trickled down his limbs. He couldn't banish the mental image of Katara's beautiful cerulean eyes terrified, and her piercing scream was still ringing in his ears…

Aang tried collected himself and think rationally. It wasn't real, it was just a nightmare, I am a good person, and I did the right thing at the palace, Aang thought fervently. Unable to completely calm himself, he walked out of his tent and walked outside into the icy night. A crescent moon hung in the sky, accompanying the hundreds of stars that lit up the ground around him. He looked over at Sokka's tent to hear his snores coming from its depths. Toph's rock tent stood boldly, still enclosed and undoubtedly concealing the earth bender. Appa's giant form was slowly rising and falling next to Sokka's tent, peacefully asleep.

Aang then looked Katara's tent only to see that the flap that led into it was waving silently in a freezing wind. Aang shivered, mainly because he hadn't put on a shirt before walking out. He firebended his skin lightly, warming himself up and walked over to Katara's tent, dreading the idea of her not being there. He grasped the flap at the opening and looked inside. Her sleeping bag was there, but it was vacant.

Aang instantly airbended himself high into the air, his eyes gazing all around the campsite for any sign of Katara in the surrounding woods. His mind was panicking, thinking that she might be kidnapped, killed, or worse. He flew towards a nearby stream and landed near the bank, quickly scanning the area for any sign of her.

He saw a form sitting calmly by the river, bending currents of water in the air and allowing them to flow gracefully around her body in circles. She did not notice Aang and he just sat back and watched her swing her arms slowly and masterfully through the midnight air, streams of water following her fingertips.

He marveled at the way the moonlight reflected off her dark skin, making her arms and face glow radiantly. Her ebony hair tumbled down her body, swirling slightly as she twisted her torso to guide the water in the air. He sighed at her beauty and her body jerked as she twisted towards him, sending water swiftly towards him.

Aang could have dodged the water, vaporized it with fire, or bent it back to her but he just simply stood, propped against a tree and let it flow over his body and freeze him to the tree. Katara rushed over to him, another stream of water dangerously hovering near her head like a snake ready to strike. He eyes softened when she saw Aang's face grinning at her. The water dropped to the ground and she smiled mischievously at Aang.

"That's what you get for trying to sneak up on me." She stated as she stopped in front of Aang.

"I guess I should be more cautious when there are master waterbenders wandering the woods at night." He replied, still grinning. He was going to scold her from wandering away from camp without telling anyone, but when he looked into her eyes he forgot that he was mad at all. She had that effect on him. "I mean, I really should have some protection if I'd ever want to go for a midnight stroll."

"No one could hide you from me." She said coyly and kissed Aang, running her hands in his hair. He kissed her back, ecstasy flowing throughout his body. He started to feel his body warm up, just by feeling her lips on his, and soon the ice had melted away and he embraced her. After a while the broke their kiss and gazed into each others eyes.

Aang saw his dream flash in his mind, seeing Katara's face contorted in fear, terrified for her life. He looked away, ashamed at the image that burned in his mind.

"What's the matter?" Katara asked with a concerned look on her face.

"I had another nightmare. I was in the avatar state, the one I triggered in the Firelord's Palace." Aang could barely talk about it with her; every time he looked at her he saw her eyes right before his Avatar State bent lightning at her.

"Oh." She exclaimed softly. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked even softer, gripping his shoulder with a slender hand.

"What is there to talk about? It was three years ago, but I still have theses dreams. I don't think they will ever go away." He replied sadly. "I will always second guess my actions that night."

"You did the right thing, Aang. You ended the war, you saved the world…" She tried to convince him. She then added quietly, "You saved me."

"I couldn't let you die." Aang said, eyes beginning to form tears. "I couldn't let them take you from me before I told you that I loved you."

Katara turned towards him and hugged him close. "I know. I love you too, Aang." Aang looked in her eyes and allowed tears to run down his face.

"You don't know how much you mean to me. I could never deserve someone as amazing as you. I don't know how you can love me, a murderer, a deserter…"

Aang could not say any more because Katara kissed him silencing his rant against himself. When they broke she immediately said:" I love you because you are a good man, you are kind, loving, loyal man."

Aang was about to say something to reply when his eyes narrowed. He heard a whisper hovering in the air, something out of place. An arrow whistled through the air and he broke his embrace with Katara to airbend it out of the way, letting it dig into the ground at his feet.

Aang then used a mixture of airbending and waterbending to yank a cloud out of the midnight sky and sent in crashing around Katara and him. Her eyes were wide as he grabbed her, cradling her in his arms. He then leaped into the air, a trail of the cloud following his form as he leapt from treetop from treetop, heading towards their camp.

Aang made gravity defying jumps hundreds of feet into the air, carrying Katara with him. She gazed up into his determined face and felt comforted. She felt safe as long as Aang was with her.

Aang thundered into the middle of the campsite, earthbending walls of stone around the tents and Appa. Katara hopped out of Aang's arms and rushed to her tent to gather her things. The giant bison grumbled as he was awoken as Toph's earth tent returned to the ground. She stood in front of Aang looking at him with a bewildered look.

Toph had changed over the years, growing taller and looking more womanly. She had the shape of a young woman, and she had grown her raven hair down to her waist. Ever since she started dating Sokka, she had started embracing a more feminine lifestyle, wearing lower cut dresses and acting suprisingly girl-like. She still hit Aang so hard that he could feel a bruise growing though.

"What's the matter Aang? Are we under attack again?" She said faintly, still not fully awake.

"Yep, another assassin by the looks of it." He replied calmly. She started mumbling something about sleep and pounding someone into the ground. Sokka came out of his tent, his meteorite sword gripped in his hand.

"What is the problem Aang? More fan girls hounding you again?" He joked lightly, but his eyes scanned all around the camp. "And why don't you have a shirt on?"

Sokka had developed too since the day Aang defeated the Firelord. He had really filled out, his muscles not overbearing but large enough to intimidate anyone he wanted to. He had started to grow a beard, but still didn't quite have enough hair so it was light and wispy on his face. His ponytail went down to his shoulders now, and he had a small white scar down his right cheek, courtesy of another encounter with an assassin.

"Someone tried to get me with an arrow in the arrow." Aang replied smugly, tapping on his forehead. "Grab your stuff and lets go."

"Fine, but just for this I am going to be grumpy the rest of the day." Sokka said as he walked away. Much quieter he added: "Mainly because Toph will be grumpy"

An earth spike came out of the ground and flew Sokka into the air and Aang could help but giggle as Toph yelled over from her supplies: "I heard that!"

After they had gathered up their things they all got on Appa and Aang sat on the bison's head. "Yip, yip."

Appa took to the skies, but as he did the walls crumbled that Aang had set up. The attacker had benders with him, or he was a bender himself. Appa soared away as a cloaked figure stood near the dead fire that was the center of their camp. He glared at the huge figure of Appa flying off into the distance and noticed the direction that they were flying in. West. They were headed for the Fire Nation.

He smiled and signaled to his cadre and they started to head back to the nearby docks. _You can't hide forever Avatar…_

AN: This chapter kinda felt slow, but I had to set it up somehow to the next chapter. Should be a week or so, I do most of my writing on the weekends. Maybe the new Avatar episode will inspire me  Thanks for reading!


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